For most, "family" is a word that relates to warmth, comfort, and security. Your family is the people you can trust and will love you unconditionally. Well, that’s not always the case: in real life or otherwise. In horror films, "family" often means disturbing history, emotional trauma, and dark secrets bubbling under a sunny facade.
Films like Ready or Not and Get Out explore how people's upbringing can influence the way they portray themselves in the world and how quickly their masks can slip when they are reunited with their relatives, while films like Krampus show us how even the most dysfunctional of units can come together when the need to fight for survival arises.
The following entries may contain minor spoilers for the films discussed.
‘You Are Not My Mother’ (2021)
You Are Not My Mother follows the story of Charlotte (Hazel Doupe), whose mother, Angela (Carolyn Bracken), suffers from depression and whose grandmother is also in poor health. When Angela goes missing one night and returns a few days later exhibiting strange behavior, Charlotte becomes increasingly frightened and begins to believe that her mother is not her mother.
Charlotte’s uncle seems oblivious to the bizarre and threatening behavior, and her grandmother seems to know more than she lets on. Charlotte must uncover deep family secrets in this Irish psychological horror, which will keep you guessing until its explosive conclusion.
‘You’re Next’ (2011)
When Erin’s (Sharni Vinson) boyfriend Crispin (AJ Bowen) offers to take her to his family reunion at their vacation home, she is excited to meet everyone. However, the trip takes a turn almost immediately when, during an argument between Crispin and his siblings over dinner, an arrow is shot through the window killing his sister’s boyfriend.
Before they know it, Erin and the family fight against masked attackers who seem intent on killing everyone in the house—but who are they? And why has this family been targeted specifically? This gory slasher is darkly funny and full of original and inventive kills—it’s no surprise that it put director Adam Wingard’s name on the map.
‘Ready or Not’ (2019)
Grace (Samara Weaving), an orphan raised in foster homes, is marrying the blue-blooded love of her life Alex (Mark O’Brien), and in turn, becoming a member of the prestigious Le Domas Gaming Dominion. Her hopes of a romantic evening consummating her marriage are quickly dashed when it is revealed that she must first take part in a time-honored tradition and play a game of hide-and-seek.
However, when the game begins, the marital bliss quickly descends into madness: those hiding are hunted, and things quickly get violent. Deemed part of the "Good for Her" horror sub-genre, Ready or Not, is a sadistic riot of dark humor, quirky characters, and twists you will never see coming.
‘The Visit’ (2015)
15-year-old Becca (Olivia DeJonge) and 13-year-old Tyler (Ed Oxenbould) are visiting grandparents they have never met before for a long weekend while their mother, who has not spoken to her parents in 15 years, vacations with her new boyfriend. Becca, an aspiring filmmaker, decides to record the visit and turn the experience into a documentary complete with interviews and candid footage.
At first, everything seems great. Their grandparents are warm and welcoming, albeit a little strict with early bedtimes and restricted areas of the house. Soon though, their behavior goes from typical "older" people's behavior—weird toilet habits, forgetfulness—to straight-up terrifying. As with all of M. Night Shyamalan’s work, The Visit has lots of horror, humor, and unexpected plot twists.
‘Titane’ (2021)
This shocking French thriller follows the story of Alexia (Agathe Rousselle) and Vincent (Vincent Lindon)—two completely different people from different worlds whose lives come together in the most unexpected way. Alexia is a young woman who, following a life-changing motor accident, becomes obsessed with cars. It is soon revealed that her obsession goes deeper than just an innocent hobby and that she is a serial killer who has taken the lives of several men and women. Vincent is a fire captain who is still struggling with the disappearance of his young son 10 years prior.
Despite its dark, disturbing, and graphic nature, Titane is a film about found family and the impact of loss—whether that be of a person or your own mind.
‘A Tale of Two Sisters’ (2003)
After being released from a mental institution, Soo-mi (Lim Soo-jung) returns home to her father and sister, Su-yeon (Moon Geun-young). When the two sisters are then reunited with their stepmother Eun-joo (Jung-ah Yum), it is clear that there is no love lost between the three. Deadly apparitions haunt Soo-mi, Su-yeon wakes up with mysterious bruises, and Eun-joo increasingly relies on an unknown medication.
This legendary South Korean horror movie holds many secrets, each more upsetting than the last. What starts as a terrifying supernatural mystery becomes a heartbreaking story about the love between two sisters and the results of traumatic loss.
‘The Invitation’ (2015)
This tense thriller shows Will (Logan Marshall-Green) taking his girlfriend Kira (Emayatzy Corinealdi) to the home of his ex-wife Eden (Tammy Blanchard) after she and her new husband invite them to a dinner party. Surrounded by old friends, Will is uncomfortable being back in the presence of his ex and their old friends for the first time in years, and we start to see flashes of memories from their marriage that explain why.
However, the past is not the only thing making this reunion difficult. Eden’s new husband and two of his friends reveal that they are part of a cult-like group that assists people with grief. As the night continues, Will becomes increasingly uncomfortable with everything discussed and paranoid that he and Kira are unsafe there. Is he right? Or is the trauma of his past just creeping in to pull him under?
‘The Children’ (2008)
When teenager Casey (Hannah Tointon) travels home with her family to spend New Years with her aunt and cousins, her half-sibling Paulie (William Howes) comes down with a mysterious illness they first write off as travel sickness. Within 24 hours, though, her cousins are also stricken with the illness and begin vomiting black vile, which appears to have a life of its own.
Before they know it, the adults in Casey’s family are fighting for their life against infected children, hellbent on killing them in the most creatively violent ways possible. This British comedy-horror is an underrated gem that will suit fans of films like Orphan, The Omen, and Children of the Corn.
‘Get Out’ (2017)
Jordan Peele’s Oscar-winning horror debut follows Chris Washington (Daniel Kaluuya) as he accompanies his girlfriend Rose (Allison Williams) home to meet her family for the first time. Chris shows concern over whether Rose’s white family will have issues with her relationship with a Black man, but she reassures him they are not racist. However, his concerns are only amplified when he arrives to find that their staff is all Black, and her parents are massively overcompensating—talking about their admiration for famous Black figures like President Barack Obama and Olympian Jesse Owens.
When Rose’s family host a party and the only other Black guest begs him to get out, Chris’ concerns only increase. Between the strange behavior from the staff, the damning evidence he finds that Rose has lied to him, and the warnings from his friend back home, Chris starts to wonder whether he was right to be worried all along. The satirical plot of Get Out is rooted in the everyday reality of people of color but explored in a way that will have you equally disturbed and amused.
‘Krampus’ (2015)
Max (Emjay Anthony) and his family—teenage sister Beth (Stefania LaVie Owen), mom Sarah (Toni Collette), dad Tom (Adam Scott), and grandmother Omi (Krista Stadler) are spending Christmas in their home with Sarah’s sister, her husband, and their kids. Unfortunately, though, the Christmas spirit is lost among the group. Sarah’s aunt has arrived with no warning and is criticizing everything, Beth wants to escape to see her boyfriend, and Max’s cousins are terrorizing him for still believing in Santa. In a frustrated rage, Max rips up his letter to Santa and allows the wind outside to blow it away.
Later that night, a blizzard strikes, and the family ends up stranded at home with no power and no sign of life outside. When Beth doesn’t return from her boyfriend’s house, Tom and his brother-in-law set out to find them and instead find the destroyed remains of his home—the chimney ripped open and large hoof-prints in the snow. They make it home to the family, but someone or something has followed them. Footsteps on the roof, chains rattling in the chimney, and a startling confession from Omi all signal that this Christmas may be anything but merry and bright.